Monday, April 15, 2013

Wise words about music and life by a consummate musician, Joel Navarro

Here's a great address by Joel Navarro to the Philippine choral community. I saw it shared by Mark Anthony Carpio and liked it enough to ask Joel if I could shareit here on my blog. Always a great gentleman and consummate musician, Joel agreed to let me post it. Wise words here...

"It's never about us."

As
one of the more senior choral conductors in your midst, allow me these
words for you to chew on. I do this because I have invested my life
mentoring many of you even as I now live so very far away from you. You
are all dear to my heart. I am deeply grateful that many of you have
surpassed me. This is the best tribute you can give your professor.

I
wish you could all invest and pursue long-term and lifelong learning
opportunities to study deeply from other great choirs, conductors, and
repertoires of those from the other side of the world, as they, too,
must learn from you. It's not enough to win competitions, do adjudications, workshops, choir clinics, and gigs.
They all serve a purpose, to be sure. But you need to replenish and
refuel yourselves. Do regular and thoughtful score study of music your
choir may not even perform. Get away from the hustle and bustle and
retreat to your own mountain of solitude. Study with and learn from the
masters. Be an apprentice to great conductors. Read books on choral
music. Establish a roundtable of conductors that caucuses regularly and
exchanges research on choral music. Reserve time to sharpen your
saw--retool, re-imagine your life ministry/calling, reflect, re-assess,
re-educate and re-dedicate yourselves to your life-callings.

Developing
over-competence in one area (e.g. performance, etc.) often results in
an under-competence in another area. Doing too much leads to that
dreaded burn-out, we so often bring upon ourselves. It also leads to
ossification. There is nothing more important than time for your own
soul. Your soul needs to breathe. I have learned that doing so many
things all the time often leads to accomplishing very little. Is this
the example we want to leave behind to those who follow us? If we live
often inside our own bubble, we become comfortably ensconced in our
world and think the world revolves around us. Never rest on your
laurels. This doesn't mean pursuing more laurels. Step back. Go out of
your bubble. Take time off. Request, even insist, on a sabbatical every
7th year of your work. Learn. Then, learn some more. There is a big
world out there and it keeps renewing every day. Genius grows everywhere
all the time. Learn from its fresh and awe-some ideas. When you keep
learning, your choir will thank you for it, your audiences will grow
with you, and you ensure an enduring legacy of continuous growth and
renewal to your successors.

Remember that we're all servants of the music, and the Great Spirit who guides the music of the spheres. It's never about us.